"You can't fix it. You can't make it go away.
I don't know what you're going to do about it,
But I know what I'm going to do about it. I'm just
going to walk away from it. Maybe
A small part of it will die if I'm not around
feeding it anymore."
--Lew Welch

Hobbling from the bus stop in a cold drizzle - it was 80 yesterday - I couldn't wait to play Gerry Mulligan, pour an iced(!) coffee, bake bread ... just what is happening.

An auditing student told me she's learned more in 4 weeks than in two terms with my replacement. Nice to hear but the opposite happens, too. She may be responding to my real world, no ivory tower approach. I mean, we spend two weeks on what a screenplay LOOKS LIKE, unread! Why? Because they can get rejected on appearance alone!

Just finished rereading my novel Sodom, Gomorrah & Jones and am deeply satisfied by it. Here, I think, my grasp is as close to my reach as in anything I've written. This novel is almost perfect, in terms of what I set out to do. It also is a marriage of deeply personal parts: from my life, from my previous work, from my literary obsessions. This is my story, through and through, "a final statement" as clear and strong as my skills allow. This is how I see the world, through my protagonist CJ.

This book deserves a much wider audience but it won't get it unless, far down the road if at all, an enthusiastic advocate for it appears. But it already has attracted enough favorable responses to satisfy me, to tell me I am not alone in my interests or tastes.

"This book surprised me. It is intelligent, funny, bawdy and real," wrote a reviewer at Amazon. Perfect. Another wrote, "SODOM, GOMORRAH & JONES is a unique and original look at the world we live in from the perspective of someone who has done a lot of living. What's happened to the world in the last century is sad; the American Dream used to be about having a family, a house, a car, and a comfortable life without worry and stress. Now it's about getting rich, and then getting richer. And to hell with anyone or anything that gets in our way. If this speaks to you, so will this novel. I recommend it to those with an open mind, a progressive spirit, and a lust for life."The critic Bob Hicks wrote,

Deemer’s novel flips easily through flashbacks and current events, and it can hit lightly on some of its scenes, like a screenplay (and in fact, Deemer has taught screenwriting at PSU for several years). It also drops in frequently on CJ’s increasingly hopeless and cynical view of the state of the nation: he was, after all, a historian and a political activist. As offhand as these passages can seem, they’re a crucial part of the novel, both in defining its position in the culture and in reporting the core of CJ’s character. Deemer doesn’t dwell on CJ’s political positions, and his references can pass so quickly that they sometimes seem more like sound-bite position statements than explorations of complex social issues. Yet the novel’s opening sentence – Was the American Dream coming to an end? – is a serious proposition that Deemer examines, in various forms, from beginning to end.

Few and scattered fans but that's to be expected, given the parameters of the book's existence. I am glad it is out there, and I am proud that my grasp came so close to my reach. This is success, in my value system.

When the riots in Watts happened half a century ago, I was a UCLA student with a summer job at a campground in the nearby San Gabriel mountains. Black friends of ours, solidly middle class, were frightened enough by the expanding violence to come camp with us for the duration. All of us were shocked by events.

But riots stemming from racial and class injustices haven't shocked or surprised me for a long time. Baltimore today is just another chorus. What shocks me is how little has changed. In fact, with regard to rich and poor empowerment, the present is worse. Double standards of justice are more entrenched than ever. Media bias is more misleading than ever.

I hear the same bullshit rhetoric. I see the same refusal to face racism and classism head on.

The moral issues thrust at German youth in the brilliant miniseries Generation War need an American interpretation, perhaps a Generation Empire miniseries set ... when? The McKinley era, when empire found its fervor? The Vietnam era, during the last significant peace movement? Or perhaps during WWII, challenging the notion of a Great Generation? Or more recently? Or is the film Born on the Fourth of July as close as we'll get?

Of course, it is much harder for winners to look in the mirror than it is for the defeated.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

What a world it would be if humans collectively learned lessons from history and if great works of art influenced social and political behavior. But except to individuals, history doesn't matter and art doesn't matter.

Leary may have had it right in theory, if not in methodology: turn on; tune in; drop out.

Out cruising with Sketch, caught a Porter special on the jazz station ... talk about genius! Mind-boggling how many great songs he wrote. I like the eccentric Kline film about his life. Came home and found a number of free Porter collections on Prime music, incl film sound track.

I'm 1 for 1 with ricotto; O for 2 with semolina; and now 1 for 1 with potato. The key appears to be using as little flour as possible. I put them in a casserole for dinner.

H off to an art show. No one acting as if the house is going up for sale. Well, some day. Maybe in the fall if we actually get busy. Beginning to think I'll die here. H isn't much help in prepping the house.

Started watching this German miniseries again, for third time - more impressed each time I see it! This really deserves a wide American TV audience. Other than the Iliad, I don't know of a more powerful "war story."

I've never been big about lentils. Then I discovered these. Now I can't get enough of them: I've eaten more in the past two months than in the previous 70+ years. I like them simple, olive oil, salt and pepper. With any meal - including breakfast!

Iced coffee and a maple bar before class ... somewhat regret taking this on but can use the money ... remember why I retired in the first place ... still, I enjoy the classroom give and take ... and the new approach is good.

Cutting the cord and subscribing to Sling TV are the smartest decisions I made in a long time. For 1/4 the cost I get at least 10x better access to things I actually want to see. Remarkable difference!

We're taking the pressure off to meet any deadlines. Neither of us moves fast ... it may take a year to de-clutter the place! We have a low mortgage, we can hang here until the right offer comes. Monday we meet for an "as is" offer ... don't expect anything we'd like but what a neat surprise if we are wrong.

This place is lovely in good weather! Maybe we stay the summer, at least.

I love my breakfasts, which are remarkably simple and mind-bogglingly delicious. This morning, for example: a slice of olive bread toast, a slice of white toast, both mine of course, and two WET scrambled eggs to spoon onto the toast, bite by bite. Talk about starting the day right ...

I'm inspired by a new book by a Portland cook to expand my kitchen landscape. I've long made my own fettuccini and lasagne noodles ... but now to try shapes by hand and unusual ingredients. The more time in the kitchen, the better ... and bread goes in the oven right now ...

Not since the AlphaSmart have I been so enamored of a tech gadget as I am of the Kindle Fire 6. A perfect fit to my needs, the smaller, lighter size making all the difference. And it's faster (not sure why). Like the AS, which I still use (!), I feel this is as good as it gets, or at least as good as I need. Examples of less is more.

The Kindle Fire 6 has to be the best tablet under $100 on the market. I prefer it to the 7 inch: lighter, faster, smaller but not too small. Sling TV and WatchESPN run great on this, loading faster than on the larger model. The camera is good enough for me, with front and back lenses. Obviously I am delighted!

In the student union ... iced coffee, maple bar, hour before class, ah does this bring back memories. I'm impressed with myself, designing a course like a workshop, which means I bring less home to deal with and instead get them working in class. Harder in class, easier at home ... a good trade, under the circumstances.

Show a doc about screenwriting today, easy day. Real work begins next two weeks, lectures and exercises and workshops. Still working on structure of workshops ... think I'll make groups of four, same four thru entire course, Group work, then sharing with entire class ... lots of q and a. Atmosphere for picking my brain.

Steve and I are marketing the old splay again. Agent friend of his didn't pan out, as I predicted!, so first step is going after agent. None of my old ones still around. Though the agencies are. This is a long shot ... should have been marketed 2 and 3 yrs ago, when all the similar Silicon Valley stuff was getting bought ... may be too late for that fad. It's all about being in the right place at the right time with the right material. In other words, a total crapshoot. Totally!

Am I the only writer left in America who loves using the AlphaSmart, as I am now? Yep, the AS rides again.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Think my Kindle Fire 7 is on its last legs ... served me well, long past warranty, so I can't complain. Excuse to upgrade ... though I may go down to a six inch to save some bucks, now that we have Fire TV.

Earlier blog (archived)

ENTERTAINMENTS

Career Support

"Charles' impact on Northwest literature and theater over the past twenty-plus years is impressive. As a critic I've followed his work since the early 1980s, and no playwright has had such an important or long-lasting effect on this community's cultural life." --Bob Hicks, Senior Critic (retired), The Oregonian

"During the years we've worked together, I feel Charles was the clearest and most important theatre voice in Oregon." --Steve Smith, Artistic Director (retired), Theatre Workshop

"This play has balls!" -- Anonymous young man, shouting in the dark before curtain call for Country Northwestern.

2006
Finalist, Mystery of the Year (Foreword Magazine), for Dead Body In A Small Room.

2007
Begin making digital films. Deconstructing Sally, perhaps the best of the bunch ("Deconstructing Sally has voice: It’s a good example of how skillful and individualistic democratic filmmaking can be.")

2008Changing Key, a video hyperdrama and lecture-demonstration presented to national hypertext conference.